Worth Dying For
by Chris101
Summary: Revised version of "Strings of Fate" Naruto has things to fight for and it makes him strong, but he soon learns tthat trues strength comes from having something worth dying for. Naru x Karin, Naru x one-sided Harem. See profile for Disclaimer.
1. Chapter 1

**Worth Dying For**

**Chapter 1: **Of All the Gin Joints in All the World

It wasn't often that Hatake Kakashi would be seen in a bar. In fact, it only happened once a year. Most people wouldn't suspect Kakashi of the type of person to drink his sorrows away, and normally he wouldn't. At most he would mourn his comrades deaths and try to remember the lessons he learned from their deaths.

But today was different. Today was always different. Every year on this day, Kakashi would go to a local bar, order whatever alcohol he saw first and partake in the forgetting game. Drinking enough of the bitter sweet liquid to forget the death of the man he respected and admired most. Even still, it is hard to forget the death of Hatake Sakumo.

Now, Kakashi was not one to get drunk. He knew his limits and always stopped before he reached them and today was no exception. Sighing in content, He set down his half full glass and the required amount of money on the counter before wordlessly leaving. He pulled out his infamous orange book out of habit and opened it in front of his face and started walking towards his apartment to further mourn his fathers death.

Or he would have had he not heard the sounds of a fight in the alley next to the bar. Being a jounin, Kakashi had to help keep the peace inside the walls in Konoha, so he decided to break it up before anyone gets to hurt. As Kakashi walked past the garbage cans, he expected to see a couple of drunks fighting over something stupid, what he came upon was a couple sober looking men beating on a child, no older than 5 years old.

Kakashi approached them as they taunted the young child, when he was within arms length they started throwing punches at the boy, Kakashi coughed to get their attention on him. When on of the men turned around Kakashi quickly punched him in the gut, knocking the guy out. His companion quickly backed up from Kakashi and fled the alley.

Kakashi looked down the boy, who seemed to shy away from his gaze, when he realized, he recognized the boy. It was the local jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Kitsune and the only son of his deceased sensei, Uzamaki Naruto. Kakashi sighed, he knew that people treated him coldly and tended to avoid him, but beating on him was a new low. He looked back at the boy and saw that he only had a few bruises, "Hey kid, you better get out of here before you get yourself in more trouble" Kakashi warned as he picked up the unconscious body and headed out the alley. He had to talk to Hokage about assigning a small ANBU squad to watch over the boy if things like this were going to happen.

**xXx**

Naruto looked up at the strong man who had just saved him. No one ever gave him the time of day, but that man was genuinely worried about him. Deciding to follow his advice Naruto stood up and slowly walked out of the alley, holding the sore spot on his side where he was hit.

Having already eaten lunch, Naruto was at a loss at what to do for the rest of the day. He thought it would be best to go to the park, hoping that some of the other children would play with him. Normally he wouldn't get his hopes up, but that man was nice to him, so maybe someone else would be nice too.

After playing by himself in the park for what seemed like forever, Naruto was about to head home, but was distracted as a cat, with a red ribbon on it's right ear, approached him. "Neko?" Naruto looked around the park from his spot in the sand box, trying to find the owner. But as he looked around he realized that no one else was here besides him. Naruto was brought from his thoughts when the cat began to rub against him and purr in contempt.

Naruto feeling happy to finally have someone to spend time with, began to pet the cat, causing the cat to purr even more. However, his happiness was short lived, as the cat was taken from him by a young girl with a Forehead protector, signifying her position as a ninja of Konoha. "I found him!" the girl yelled to her companions as they appeared out of the small forest surrounding the park. Naruto could only look on, as the gennin took his only friend away from. Leaving him, once again, alone with nothing to do.

Having nothing else to do Naruto decided to head home and make some ramen for dinner before going to sleep. Naruto calmly walked down the street towards his house when his stomach let out a large growl. Looking around Naruto spotted the ramen stand the Hokage had taken him to once. Checking his pockets, Naruto was dismayed to find only a 50 yen coin. Not enough to buy a hot bowl of ramen.

Dejected Naruto continued his trek home, hoping to sate the growing hunger pains. As he turned the corner Naruto nearly missed the copper coin lying one the side of the street. Naruto picked it up and picked the dirt off of it. Looking at the clean coin, Naruto was able to make out the 500 on it. "Yatta!" Naruto shouted energetically as he headed back to the Ramen shop.

Naruto shyly entered the ramen shop and took a seat at the counter. "Hey there, Kiddo. What can I do for you?" greeted the owner, a middle-aged man in his late 30's or early 40's.

"Ano, I would like some beef ramen please" Naruto said, not wanting to upset the people who would feed him. After a couple minutes of waiting a large, for 4 year old Naruto, bowl of Ramen was placed in front of him.

"Here you go." said the man as he went upstairs to check on something. Naruto sat there calmly, eating the warm noodles. When he was done drinking the broth, he noticed the man had returned.

"Ano." Naruto said as he put the 500 yen coin on the counter.

"Here" the man said as he gave Naruto back the coin, "Don't worry about it, that one's on the house" He said, giving Naruto a warm smile. Naruto could only look at him as if he were a saint. Nobody gave him free food. Ever.

"Arigato" Naruto said as he bowed towards the man before leaving. Today had been the best day of his life. He got free food, he found 500 yen, a stranger was nice to him and he got to play with a cat at the park. Naruto sighed. He missed the cat that had been taken from him. Not really paying attention where he was going Naruto found himself near the bar where he was beaten up earlier.

Not wanting to stay there for too long, Naruto began walking faster, determined to get home safely. It was when he passed the bar did a loud crashing sound come from the alleyway. Naruto looked back to see a brown cat with a ribbon on it's ear run past him towards the edge of town.

Naruto immediately recognizing the cat as the one from earlier, began chasing after it. It wasn't long before both the cat and Naruto were in the forest bordering the town. Naruto stopped and leaned against the tree to catch. It was then that he noticed that the sun was beginning to set, so he decided to turn around and head back home, but when he turned around all he saw were trees and bushes. Naruto spun around a couple of times just to make sure he wasn't facing the wrong way. He was tired and wanted to go home and go to sleep, so he chose a direction at random and using 4 year old logic, decided it was the right direction.

After walking for awhile after sunset, Naruto could feel sleep gripping him, so he stopped and found a tree that looked like it would stop the cold September winds from blowing down on him. As he drifted off to sleep, Naruto couldn't help, but hope that maybe someone would find him out here and take him home. If he was lucky maybe it will be that nice man that saved him earlier.

**xXx**

**A/N:** and here is the first chapter of my revised story. As you noticed that Naruto left the village, but I did it in a way that was totally different from every one else. He wasn't chased out, he didn't decided to leave, and he wasn't kidnapped or influenced out. He simply got lost while chasing a cat. A cat some of you should recognize.

I'm gonna try to release a new chapter, either every week or every other week. And incase you noticed, every chapter title is a song name. I hoped you guys will enjoy this story, so please tell me what you think.

By the way, a Japanese yen is worth about as much as a penny. It fluctuates between 100 yen to a dollar and 110 yen to a dollar. I'm telling you this so you have some sort of idea how much things cost in this story.


	2. Chapter 2

-1**Chapter 2 : **Angels with Dirty Faces

Sasori was very touchy when it came to punctuality. His whole purpose of life functions on him and his targets being punctual. Which is why Sasori had to restrain himself from prematurely killing the Kumo shinobi, whom has the misfortune of being the targets of Sasori, as they slowly made their way towards Konoha.

When the Kumo nin had finally reached Konoha, 3 hours and 12 minutes late**, **Sasori continued on, heading towards the forest on the outskirts of the hidden village. deciding to settle down for the night, Sasori set up camp, making sure to stay far enough away to keep out of sight of any Hyuuga who weren't purposely looking for him. After setting up the camp fire to keep warm and provide light, Sasori began making preparations for the next night.

Or he would have, had he not noticed something bright yellow in the moonlight, about 20 meters away from his camp.

**-xXx-**

Naruto, who was sleeping perfectly fine considering he was sleeping unprotected in the woods during September, was assaulted with senses that were somewhat foreign to him. He remembered falling asleep in the cold woods, so he expected to wake up to the cold smell of the trees. Instead however, he was engulfed in warmth and he could smell… something, he couldn't quite tell it was, but it definitely wasn't the woods.

Deciding to find out what was going on, Naruto cautiously opened one of his eyes, taking a peek at his surroundings. The first thing he noticed was that there was a large black coat decorated with red clouds, wrapped around him, he looked up to see that the sun hadn't even come up yet, as the sky was littered with fading stars amongst grey skies.

Looking across from him, Naruto noticed a red haired teenager, wearing a grey and white Kamishimo, adding wood to the dying fire, before he resumed sharpening a bladed tail on a frightening man looking creature with a metal arm and a giant red Oni mask on it's back.

Naruto looked between the teenager and the large man-like thing next to him several times before the young man spoke up, "I realize that you are confused as to who I am and how I came to be here, but I am afraid that I can't answer that under the current situation, that I am in." He stopped his work and looked up at Naruto, before picking up an apple from the small pile next to him and tossing it to the young blonde, "But, I do require to know why a young child is out here all alone at night." The young man finished, looking at the boy expectantly.

Naruto, only understanding part of what he said, could only stare at the apple, trying to figure out what he had said. After a moment, Naruto gave up on trying to figure out on what was said and answered the question given to him. "Umm, I got lost chasing a cat out here yesterday." Naruto said before he took a bite out of the apple.

The teenager let out an amused sigh, " Is that so?" Naruto nodded, " Well, here," he said as he tossed the blonde a small object he pulled out of the many layers of his outfit, "Your village is that way" He said as pointed away from the camp, "just make sure the needle is facing you and you shouldn't get lost again"

Naruto finished up the apple before looking in the direction showed, then down at the small compass given to him, and then back at the teenager who had taken care of him. "You know if you don't hurry up and return home, your parents are going to worry about you." the redhead said, not looking up from his work.

"Ano, I don't have any parents" Naruto said with a sad look on his face " and everyone acts really mean, so I don't think they would care if I was missing".

The teenager looked up at the blonde, "Tell me, is your name, Uzamaki Naruto, by any chance?" the blonde nodded. " I see." He said as he stood up after making the human like thing disappear inside a scroll. "What do you want be, Naruto?"

"I want to be the Hokage!" Naruto said with a wide smile.

"Why?"

That question stumped Naruto, it's not that he didn't know the answer, it's just he didn't know how to answer it in words. "I guess, so I could make it that no one was alone in the village" Naruto said after a couple of moments.

The Teenager smirked, "I guess, you could say that you and I are the same,"

The blonde looked at him questioningly. "Do you want to be Hokage, too?"

"No, but I am trying change the world, so that no one is lonely anymore. So, now I'm offering you a choice, you can back to your village, or you can come with me" He said as he started off past Naruto.

"Wait!" the teenager turned towards the Naruto, "Do you, think we could make the world better?"

"You won't be able to do anything with thoughts like that." was his only reply before he continued walking.

Naruto looked towards the direction he was told the village was, before looking back at the young man. Standing up he looked at the coat in his hands. Hadn't this been what he was dreaming for last night. He ran towards the redhead, "Hey wait up! What's your name?"

He stopped as the blonde caught up to him, "Akasuna Sasori" he said as he walked towards his destination with the blonde right behind him.

**-xXx-**

Naruto, who had spent the last couple hours learning and practicing his katakana, looked up the tree to see Sasori still standing in one of the branches and looking through a spyglass into the village 100 meters away. "Hey Sasori-san, are you sure the Kumo shinobi are going to kidnap …um who were they going to take away again?"

"The Hyuuga Heiress, and yes, that is the entire reason they came here" Sasori replied without looking away from his targets.

"What's an Heiress?" Naruto asked as he continued practicing his alphabet.

"An Heiress is similar to a princess"

"Really! Like in the stories?"

"Kind of. Now get back to practicing, the sooner you learn to read and write properly, the sooner you can learn to be a shinobi"

Needing no other motivation, Naruto got back to studying, leaving his new guardian to follow the movements of the Kumo diplomats.

**-xXx-**

It would be several hours into night when the Kumo nin had started to head towards the Hyuuga estate. "Wake up" Sasori said as he nudged the sleeping blonde with his foot, "they are making their move"

When he all he received was a sleepy "Hmmm", Sasori lifted the kid up by the scruff of his shirt and carried him on his back as he made his way towards the village's walls. By the time Naruto fully woke up, he realized he was on Sasori's back, while he normally wouldn't have a problem with this, it was the fact that Sasori was running up the wall that freaked Naruto out.

Naruto let out a "humph" as Sasori dropped him on the on top of the wall as he headed towards the nearest guard center. By the time Naruto had recovered from his shock and caught up to the redhead, he had already taken down four Konoha chunnin assigned to patrol this particular section of the wall and was looking out of a nearby window with his spy glass, while holding a scroll with some kanji on it.

Naruto looked at their bodies, "Don't worry their not dead, I just had to render them unconscious so I could get a better view of what's going to happen" Naruto feeling relieved, walked over to the window and try to see what his elder was looking at.

"I can't see anything" He replied with a small pout, "What's happening?"

"Nothing is happening now" Sasori said as he put away the scroll and the spy glass, "Fortunately, her Father had been aroused from the noise and stepped in, so it is best we leave before we cause anymore disruptions."

Before Naruto knew what was Happening, he was once again lifted up off the ground and on to Sasori's back as he made his way down the wall. He knew the Hyuuga had seen him, there are few things a Hyuuga can't, but he wasn't sure if he, or more importantly the blonde traveling with him, was noticed by him and if they were noticed, he wanted to be as far away as possible when they send someone after them.

"Ano, Sasori-san, what would have happened if they took the girl away?" asked as he was put onto solid ground.

"Most likely another war, between Kumo and Konoha" he said as he made his way out of the vicinity.

"What's war?" Naruto asked as he ran to catch up with him.

"Something we don't want to happen."

"Why?"

"Because many people fight and die in wars, and if you asked me, I think the whole world deserves some peace after the last couple wars."

"Oh." was all Naruto said, before walking (jogging in his case) in silence for a couple minutes. "Where are we going"

"Somewhere that can't be found on any map. I need to talk to someone before we make our next move."

**-xXx-**

**A/N:** here is the second chapter. Sorry for the long wait, but if you read my profile you can see I kind of had my hands full. If you had looked at my profile you would have also noticed the poll there. I decided to let you guys decide the fate of one of characters in my story. HAKU! I'll let you decide if he is a she or if she is a he and whether or not if he/she dies or lives, so you should definitely vote. It will close after the "Neko Retrieval" Arc.

I also hope you noticed that there will be some (maybe a lot) of pop culture references to my favorite shows, songs, movies and manga. I would like to congratulate those in advance if you are able to find all of them. ;P

Ja ne


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: **One Step Closer

**-xXx-**

It was nostalgic to be here again, sure the trees were filled with leaves of varying color and he was alone, but he still has his memories of what happened here and the people he met. Naruto stood in a wooded area on the very edge of Taki no Kuni _(Waterfall Country)_ waiting for his... comrades. Comrades would be a fitting term had they fought together for more than several instances, but it is the only word that can describe the relationship he has with these... people. Another term only used for it's convenience and simplicity.

Naruto looked at the tall oaks and couldn't help but to remember the forest outside of his birthplace of Konohagakure no Sato, and the man who had found him there. It seemed like so long ago, but even Naruto knows that 6 years is a very short time. Naruto watched as a leaf subtly fell from the tree he stood underneath, reminding him of the snow that fell down when he first met these...people. There he goes using loose terms again.

_(5 Years Ago)_

"_He's late"_

_Naruto looked up at Sasori, "How can you tell? You don't have a watch or anything." he pointed out as they waited in the cold winter forest. Sasori looked at his young charge._

"_I just can." Sasori looked away from Naruto "Listen well, Naruto, Time is something that cannot be obtained and cannot be stopped. It is best to use time wisely and not to waste the time of others."_

"_I waste your time and yet you are still here, wasting your time waiting for me. You shouldn't tell the kid to not waste time when you yourself are letting it drift away"_

_Naruto looked up to see a large man with shaggy brown hair and a large build that was hidden under hist coat. Naruto soon realized that the large man also had two teenagers, no older than 13, next to him on both of his sides, who were also wearing a coat to protect themselves from the cold._

"_Naruto, I want you to read this while I go talk" Sasori ordered while pulling a small book out of the folds of his kamishimo and handed it to him. "I might be a while"_

_So Naruto sat against the leafless tree and began to read the book assigned to him. Or at least he tried, for as soon as he was 12 pages in the book, it was ripped away from him by one of the boys he saw earlier. Upon closer inspection, Naruto realized that both boys had shaggy brown hair, just like the man they came with, green eyes and were the same height. He soon realized that those two boys where exactly the same in all physical aspects._

"_Hey, Whatcha got here?" the one who took the book away asked._

"_What are you retarded, it's a fucking book!" Said the other as he threw a rock at his counterparts head._

"_Shuddap! I was trying to be intimidating and you had to go ruin the moment. Jeez!" The boy then looked at the cover and then flipped through the book. "Basic Strategy and Logic: Essential Knowledge for the Learning Shinobi, here you can have it back" He said as he tossed the book back to Naruto, "but a word of advice from some real ninjas, when the shit hits the fan, and trust me it will, your gonna wanna a sword in your hands rather than any of the shit that book will teach ya"_

"_I'm Yousuke by the way" the other said as he walked up next to the boy who took his book"and that there is my identical, though slightly retarded, twin brother, Shibata"_

"_Hey! Who the hell are you calling retarded?" _

"_No one" Yousuke clarified, "I was calling you slightly retarded."_

"_YOU BASTARD!" that was the only warning Naruto got as Shibata lunged at his brother and try to punch him._

_:Ano, um" Naruto interrupted causing them to temporally stop their fight, "How am I supposed to tell the two of you apart?"_

_They both just put on a grin and said,_

"_Your not supposed to..."_

"_...thats the point of being Twins."_

_Naruto could only look at the in confusion and wonder, and as the snow started to fall, he couldn't help but get the feeling that sometime in the near future he would get the urge to cause great physical and psychological pain to the two boys in front of him,_

_(Present)_

"Your late" Naruto stated as he glanced at his pocket watch before placing it back underneath his red and white hakama.

"And this is the part where we say something witty about you wasting time, right?" asked Shibata as he and his twin walked up to Naruto.

"Well it was, but the you had to go and waste that window of opportunity." Yousuke said as he slapped his counterpart on the back of his head. "I swear, it is like I got all of your brains while you got... nothing really, your just as useless as ever"

There it was, the ever familiar feeling of wanting to smash both of their heads against a large rock until their brains start oozing out of their orifices "Could the both of you guys stop being stupid long enough to tell me what I want to know?"

"Fine, your majesty"

"As you wish, my lord"

_Twitch_

"Another comment like that and I will take these off and go bat-shit crazy on you two" Naruto said as he pointed out the large steel bracelets secured tightly around his wrist and arms.

"Fine, fine, we'll cut the crap"

"What do you want to know?"

"I want to know where exactly Orochimaru holds this boy. He goes by the name Jugo" Naruto asked.

"Here's the thing, we don't know exactly where he is..." Shibata started.

"...But, we do know of a couple locations where he could be. The closest would be Orochimaru's prison complex, its where he keeps the dangerous ones, but we can't guarantee it." Yousuke explained.

"The other possibility would be Oro's new science base of operations, and it is also the mote likely of places, considering Jugo's bloodline, but it is also farther away and we don't know the exact location of it, only that it lies in the north." Shibata continued.

"I see, you two can be useful sometimes, I'll repay you guys later" Naruto said as he started to walk away. "Good luck on your book"

"You keep, saying that, you already owe us over 1 million yen!"

"And if you ever see Sasori and he isn't trying to kill you, tell him he owes us well over 50 million yen!"

_(5 Days Later)_

Naruto sat in front of a dying fire, watching it burn out as the morning sun began it's ascent. Pulling out his pocket watch one more time, confirming it was the right day, he slowly stood up and started his 2 kilometer walk towards the hidden prison. "And so, it begins..."

**-xXx-**

**A/N:** And so I finally update, yay! Just a little notice about the story 1) the bracelets are not weights, and kudos to those who figure out their true purpose, and 2) the events concerning Haku will be similar to canon, even though all the votes were for Haku being a girl, and as much as I wanted Haku to be girl, it will work out better this way. And besides, only 6 people voted in 2 months.

As some of you know I will be working on 2 stories at once so don't expect lightning fast updates. And one final note, the two characters that made an appearance in this chapter are named after characters from another manga, another recurring trait through out this fic, so be on the look out for some familliar names.


	4. notice

**ATTENCION!!!!!!**

As I'm sure none of you know (if you did know then please stop stalking me), but recently me and my family had to move from South Florida to Northern Alabama. Which is why I have not been able to post (that and school, laziness and lack of motivation) anyways. If you have made that drive before, you would know that it takes about 12 hours to drive from my old house to my new one. A trip I had to make 6 times in the length of 2 weeks. And while in the car for a total of 3 days, I had a lot of time to think up rough drafts for my stories.

While thinking of this story, I realized that I no longer had any plan or motivation for this story. I am sorry to say that I will not be continuing this story. All love for this story has been placed onto other projects.

My deepest appologies to those who have looked foreward tot his story.


End file.
